Promises
by jayer
Summary: Mike finds himself being asked to make a promise he won't likely be able to keep. Post Havenport


"What a mess." Mike sighed as they neared the station to find a horde of reporters waiting.

They quickly pulled in, the marshals pushing back the press so Ryan could safely carry Joey inside.

Mitchell met them inside. "DC's waiting for a report."

"Paramedic arrive yet?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Have a marshall escort the medic to the sheriff's office. Then could you see if you can scare up some food."

"Yes ma'am."

"Ryan, I need you with me." Parker said.

"We need to process Joey." Ryan objected. "And I'm not keen on handing him over to a stranger."

"I could do it." Mike cut in.

Parker nodded her approval.

"Thanks."

"Can I stay with you? Joey said yawning as Mike took him from Ryan.

"Go with Agent Weston." Ryan smiled softly. "He's a good guy. I'll come soon."

Mike carried Joey to the sheriff's office where the paramedic was waiting.

"Hey Joey" The young woman smiled. "My name's Amanda. I'm just going to check you out and make sure you're okay. Is that cool?"

"Okay." He said softly as Mike set him down on the cleared desk.

A uniform knocked on the open door. "Agent Mitchell asked me to bring this to Agent Weston. And to tell you Tucker is on his way with the things you requested."

"Thanks." Mike took the bag and the blankets.

"Okay Joey." Amanda smiled. "This is going to be like going to the doctors office."

"Do I have to get a shot?"

"Probably not." Amanda smiled. "Let's get those dirty clothes off first and then see how you're ticking."

Mike bagged the clothes and gave them to the uniform. He was impressed with how comfortable the young medic kept everything. If it wasn't for being at a police station it could have been a normal trip for a sore throat or case of poison ivy.

"Tip top" Amanda smiled and began packing up her gear.

"So no problems?"

"Tired and a little dehydrated. He says he's not hungry but he will be in the morning. Also his temp is a bit high but nothing too worrisome. Should watch him tonight and have him checked again in the morning. Or if he complains of a stomach ache, doesn't eat. Anything like that."

"Thanks."

A large black man in a marshal's jacket entered as the paramedic was leaving.

"Tucker. Great timing." Mike smiled at his old mentor. "Any trouble finding everything?"

"Nope." Tucker smiled at Joey who was still sitting on the desk wrapped in a jacket, his socked feet sticking out. "Is this the brave little man?"

"Tucker this is Joey Matthews. Joey this is Deputy Marshal Tucker."

"It's an honor to meet you Mr Matthews." Tucker held out his hand. After a pause, Joey gave it a shake.

"Tucker's going to help protect you, if that's okay."

Joey yawned.

"Okay, let's get you dressed and let you get some sleep." Mike opened the shopping bag and pulled out fresh clothes. He helped Joey pull on the jeans and a long sleeve tee shirt.

"Sorry there's no pajamas but if we have to leave you'll be warmer." Mike set a new pair of sneakers and a jacket on the desk. He grabbed the blankets and quickly made a bed up on the sofa. "Come jump in."

Joey snuggled up under the covers.

"Good?"

Joey nodded with another yawn.

"I got something else for you. It's not quite ready but it will be in the morning." Mike pulled out a smaller bag.

"An iPad?" Joey smiled. "For me?"

"Yeah. It will get pretty boring without any toys so I thought I could put some games and books and maybe some cartoons on it. Give you something to do."

"And I can keep it?"

"You sure can."

"Can we open it now?"

"What, you don't trust me to pick good stuff? I'm hurt." Mike smiled as Joey laughed at him. "Okay."

Mike watched Joey carefully rip off the wrapper and turn on the small tablet. They had both had a heck of a last few weeks and it felt good to see Joey's face light up. To see him smile and laugh. It gave Mike hope that the little boy would be all right in the end.

"Can you draw on it?"

"I'll find a drawing app."

"Okay."

There was a knock on the door. The sheriff's man was back. "Agent Parker is asking for you. And she told me to stay outside. Only you, her and Agent Hardy could come in."

"Thank you."

"We're good." Tucker nodded.

"Joey, I have to go, okay. Stay here with Deputy Tucker."

"Will you come back?"

"Sure. But you'll be asleep probably."

"Okay." Joey frowned.

"You really need to sleep, Joey. But before you do why don't you make a list of ten more things you want for your iPad. Deputy Tucker can have one of the agents bring it and your list to me. Deal?"

"Deal."

Mike paused as he left the room to take one last look. Joey looked so small, so out of place.

Mike sighed. This whole thing was crap. Insane crap. A veritable crap storm of crap. And this poor kid was right in the middle of it. This sweet little kid that had the unfortunate luck of having a total whack job for a father. And everyone was praising him for being a brave little guy. But Mike knew, he'd heard it in the woods when he finally circled back to the old shed. It wasn't Ryan that convinced Jacob Wells. It was Joey crying. A tearful sobbing please that reminded a cold blooded killer that his victim was just a little boy pulled against his will into a total nightmare. Mike wanted to scream. He wanted to punch someone. No, he wanted to punch Joe Carroll. Beat him to a bloody pulp. If Ryan didn't do it first.

"You were looking for me?"

"One of Carroll's followers says she wants to turn herself in. Ryan's in the comm room. He'll want to be in on this."

Mike found Ryan sitting alone. He looked worried, and tired. When this was all finally over they all needed a nice long vacation and to sleep for a month.

"Hey Ryan. There's a woman here, says she's part of Carroll's cult. Saw the news, she wants to talk."

They were quiet as they followed Parker to the front room where the woman was still being held under guard. Donovan was already there, waiting for them.

"I'm not armed, you don't need the guns."

"I checked, she's clean." The uniform confirmed. But Mike found himself instinctively standing in front of Ryan. Just in case they missed something or she tried a barehanded attack.

"Just the same. Who are you?" Donovan asked.

"Melissa. I wanna turn myself in." Tears were welling up in her eyes. Her voice was cracking. She turned straight to Ryan. "I saw you on the news. Please help me."

"Bring her back." Parker decided. No one argued, not even Donovan.

They should have expected something. It was too easy. But they were tired, hungry, worn out. And she seemed genuinely scared, even frail. It was an easy mistake to forgot that even the smallest puppy can bite.

He saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. Even as he turned back around, Mike saw her jump Donovan, who had turned his back. In less than a second she had embedded the hair pin into his eye. Donovan threw her off, howling in pain. Out of instinct both he and Ryan drew and fired before she could attack again. Both were kill shots.

"Call an ambulance." Parker called to the desk clerk. "Check the building."

"Secure the building." Ryan called out to the marshals and cops that came in response to the gun shots.

Mike led the way down the hall to the old sheriff's office. The officer was still on guard outside.

"Any trouble?"

"No sir, we heard the shots. Are they attacking the station?"

"Don't think so but stay on alert."

The door was locked, likely also jammed from the inside. And Tucker would have gun raised, ready to shoot anyone that tried to come in. Which was exactly why Mike had insisted they put him in charge of guarding Joey. The man was good at his job, very good.

"Hey Tucker, it's Mike. Open the door, Skipper."

"Skipper?" Ryan asked.

"Code word. I say Skipper he knows its okay. I say Captain, he knows I'm here under duress and starts firing."

"We good?" Tucker let them in the room.

They could hear Parker yelling the all clear from the other end of the hall.

"More or less." Ryan said. "Joey?"

Tucker pointed to a filing cabinet that had been pulled away from the wall. They found Joey curled up behind it.

"Joey, it's okay." Mike knelt down. "Come out. Ryan's here too. No bad guys."

Joey climbed out, his face covered in tears.

"Hey Joey." The little boy flung himself into Ryan's arms, sobbing.

"I want my mom."

"I know, Joey." Ryan carried him back to the makeshift bed and tucked him under the covers. "We're looking for the red house so we can go get her."

"Yeah." Mike nodded. "They're testing your old clothes right now to see if they can tell us where the house is."

"How?"

"The dirt. Dirt's different in different places. Bits of sand, or leaves, all sorts of stuff. Especially in your shoes. It can tell us where you've been or haven't been and that helps us know where to look."

"And you'll find my mom?"

Mike noticed Ryan hesitate. Something had happened he didn't know about. Something that might be why Ryan had looked worried.

"You know Joey," Mike said carefully, "my father always told me that lying was the most awful thing you could ever do. And that making promise you weren't 100% sure you could keep was as bad as a lie.

"I don't want to lie to you. Too many people have been doing that lately. So I'm not going to tell you that we are for sure going to find your mom. Because that's a promise I'm not sure I can keep. Do you understand that?"

Joey shrugged.

"We want to find your mom. We want to find her real bad. We want to find her and take both of you to a safe place until we can stop your father and those other people from hurting anyone else. And then you can go back home. But I can't promise you that we will. I can just promise you that we're all going try our hardest and do everything we can do."

"And the bad people."

"We are going to do everything we can to find them and stop them from hurting anyone else. Okay?"

"Okay."

Mike gave Joey a hug. "You did real good. Your mom will be real proud."

Mike tucked the covers around him. He sat waiting for Joey to fall asleep before slipping out. He found Ryan standing in the hall.

"Hey."

"What's that?" Ryan nodded at the box Tucker had handed him as he left.

"Got Joey an iPad. To keep him busy. He made a list of stuff he wants me to put on it."

"Nice thing to do. Bit expensive."

"I live pretty cheap. And I thought he could use something special."

"Anyone ever tell you that you're a bit of a sap."

"Better a sap than a psycho killer."

"I can't argue with that." Ryan laughed morosely as they entered the makeshift command room.

The smell of fresh brewed coffee was lingering in the air. "Want a cup?" Mike asked, reaching for the pot.

"Sure."

"One of the locals found a shop that was willing to make some sandwiches. Should be here in a few minutes." Mitchell poured a cup of coffee and went back to the computer stations.

"So tired I'm not even hungry."

"Same here." Mike shook his head. "Guess Joey doesn't watch a lot of tv and stuff. Only thing he wrote down was Bugs Bunny, Jimmy Neutron and Stuart Little. The book not the movie. They were reading it at school."

"Bit young for GI Joe?"

"Just a bit. What was that movie with the boy scout and the talking dog. Floating house."

"Up." Mitchell replied. "Cars is good too. Boys like that one."

"You got kids, Mitchell."

"Nephews. Ten and Seven.

"That for Joey?"

"Yeah."

"I'll call my brother. They're in Seattle so he should still be awake. Ask what else the boys are into."

"Thanks." Mike refilled his coffee. "Nothing too scary or violent. Not sure Claire would approve."

"Speaking of Claire." Ryan said as Mike sat back down.

"You think I should have told Joey everything was going to be okay."

"No. I get why you said it. It would have been easier to lie."

"Easier now but not later if things blow up on us."

"I think they already have." Ryan said grimly.

Ryan told Mike about the phone call from Joe. About what Joe said, how his voice sounded.

"He said 'has to die' right, not dead? So maybe he was playing you, trying to freak you out. rebalance the game."

"No, I think he meant it. He's lost Joey and Claire went to him to protect her son. She's not likely to play the happy housewife. His dream of having his family back is blown apart and he can't risk her getting away and telling us any secrets."

"But Joe's a control freak, he's not really impulsive. You mentioned that time and again in your book, to Parker, to Donovan."

"He's off script. Even he knows it."

"All the more reason to be careful, to pick just the right moment, the right method. He stayed in control enough to call you, to taunt you about how Claire will die. Isn't it more dramatic for his book if you almost make it. Like with Sarah. He didn't just want her dead, he wanted it to be the perfect dramatic moment."

"My Call to Action."

"Exactly."

"Maybe."

"Would you rather we just give up all hope?"

"And break your promise to Joey? Hell no."

"Good cause I don't make promises I'm not going to keep."


End file.
